NBA rocked as players vote to end season
- LA Lakers and LA Clippers vote to end current season
- The NBA and the players’ union agreed to postpone Wednesday’s playoff games after the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted in response to the Jacob Blake shooting
- Blake, a black 29-year-old father of three, was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin police, who were responding to a domestic disturbance call
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic
The entire NBA season is currently at risk of being cancelled, with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers both reportedly voting to boycott the remainder of the 2019- 2020 season as a way to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
The chaos began Wednesday when the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they would not take to the floor for their afternoon game against Orlando Magic.
The Bucks’ decision forced the NBA to also postpone two other games scheduled for Wednesday evening.
The move threw the season’s playoffs into disarray, and an 8pm players meeting was called to discuss how to move forward.
According to The Athletic, the closed-door talks were extremely tense, with teams unable to find consensus on how to continue with the rest of the season. They lasted for three hours.
The Lakers and Clippers allegedly voted to boycott all remaining games, while most other teams voted to continue.
The report further states that NBA star Udonis Haslem ‘spoke to the room and essentially asked how the season would continue without the Lakers and Clippers. LeBron James then walked out. The rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.’
The NBA boycott has inspired sports teams from other codes to also follow suit and sit out of their games as a way of protest.
Elsewhere, Major League Baseball has also been affected. On Wednesday evening, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to boycott their scheduled game.
Additionally, a Major League Soccer match between Atlanta United and Inter Miami was also postponed, while the WNBA has similarly suspended play.
